


Mona Lisa

by trenchcoatsandfreckles



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Artist Keith (Voltron), Fluff, I couldn't choose an au, It's cheesy, Lance can't keep a job, Library AU, M/M, Office AU, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Slow Burn, So Keith runs into him everywhere, but you'll like it, so i did all of them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 12:12:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16974381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trenchcoatsandfreckles/pseuds/trenchcoatsandfreckles
Summary: Lance can't - or won't keep a job. Keith keeps running into him until the inevitable happens.“Lance started working here two weeks ago, we know you like him, and based on this piece of evidence, we’re pretty sure he likes you too” Hunk held up a blue sheet of paper with a shovel printed on it, next to it the text read “I dig you” on an even smaller Comic Sans font “From: Lance To: Keith”“Where’d you get that?! Didn’t anyone tell you it’s rude to spy through other’s cubicles?!" He snatched the paper "You didn’t see the… um, the others, did you?”





	1. Chapter 1

Everybody feels a little lonely once in a while, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re alone. You see, one could feel lonely because no one else appreciates Jackie Chan as much as they should, or perhaps because no one else enjoys mac and cheese with ranch dressing, but there was a different type of lonely, a more unbearable type of lonely.

Keith was experiencing that just now, he felt like out of all the people in the world, he was the only one who wasn’t into the damn Star Wars movies, don’t get him wrong, he didn’t have anything against them, he saw a couple and didn’t like them, no need to file your tridents. 

It was a complete mystery to him why past Keith agreed to join Pidge and Hunk to the midnight screening of the newest Star Wars film, in his defense he was always a slut for the movies. “What the hell Keith?” Pidge screeched as soon as she saw him approaching “I thought we were pretty clear?” She turned to Hunk for approval.

“Mhmphmshhmam” Hunk said before removing his Chewbacca mask. “Yeah dude, I was gonna be Chewie, Pidge was gonna be an ewok, and you were gonna be Yoda! What happened?”  
“Well… I just didn’t feel like spending my night with a face full of greasy green paint and hairy ears” Keith said with a shrug, “Besides, those three guys aren’t even friends, are they?” He finished in an attempt to change the subject.

“No, no they’re not! But that’s the point!! look around Keith” Pidge said as she stood on her tiptoes to turn Keith’s head. “Tell me, how many Hans, Leias and Chewies do you see?” 

Like… 20 in this section alone” Keith answered with a confused shrug “Yeah, and how many Chewies, Yodas and Ewoks do you see? She asked threateningly. “Zero! Cause you stood us up!” Hunk intervened before Keith could say anything. 

“Damn straight Hunk! I hope you learn from this experience Kogane, let’s go.” Pidge announced as she dragged the boys from their sleeves.

 

・゜・。.

 

“1, 2, 3, 4… What do you guys think about 13? Is that the center of the theater? I don’t want to be on the bottom cause that’s where moms sit but if we sit at the corner, we’ll be hanging out at the makeout spot” Pidge asked as she avoided two freakishly tall Chewbaccas “I think these ones are okay, Keith you get the corner cause you’ll probably fall asleep” Hunk answered in a hushed voice “Like always” Added Pidge.

“That was once! And Catching Fire really sucked! It’s not my fault!” Added Keith as he reached for popcorn. “You’re just being mean cause I didn’t wanna be Yoda, you know the middle seat is my spot”

“Na ah! You’ll zone out! Hunk and I want to make theories about the movie and we don’t have time to explain why Darth Vader sounds “Like he forgot his inhaler” again” Pidge gave Keith a death stare as she settled in the middle seat. 

 

・゜・。.

 

The movie had been running for an hour and Keith was beyond bored, he tried to sleep but Pidge kept swatting him awake as soon as she noticed. He was about to escape to the bathroom for the fourth time when he noticed the guy sitting next to him. He had brown hair and scattered freckles on his cheekbones, but what really caught Keith’s attention were his, incredibly surprising, snores.

It was amazing how no one else had heard this guy snoring in the middle of the theatre, he was _loud_ with a capital L. When the screen showed a big explosion, Keith took the liberty of staring since this dude was clearly knocked out cold, the boy in question was flashed by an orange light, this helped Keith realize that this guy actually worked at the theater. He was wearing one of those cheesy retro uniforms with an undone bowtie hanging from his neck, his name tag read “Lance”.

“Keith! Keith! Are you sleeping again? You’re missing out on this quality space content!” Pidge nudged his shoulder. “The only thing I’m missing out on is Diego Luna’s beautiful face” Keith whispered back.

“This isn’t the time for us to discuss your Latin fetish! Shush!” Hunk whispered violently. “I don’t have a…” He tried to answer back but a synchronized “Shhhhh!” came from the row in the back.

 

・゜・。.

 

The credits started rolling and as soon as the lights turned on Pidge and Hunk started discussing the movie and its possible sequel. Keith turned to his left and noticed that the boy sitting there was still sleeping, he decided to softly nudge his shoulder before he could talk himself out of it “Uh… Dude, the movie’s over” He said in a careful tone. “Mmmhm” Lance groaned as he shifted in his seat and rubbed his eyes with his hands “That was super long man, did they at least kiss in the end?” 

“No… they didn’t” Keith answered dumbfounded. “Ah, what a waste of perfect romantic chemistry! anyway, thanks for waking me” Lance said as he fixed his uniform.

Keith wanted to answer something witty or at least make fun of him, but man, was this guy gorgeous, he had those pretty blue eyes that could convince anyone to do anything, and his smile… for heaven’s sake, he’s not sappy, it was just a nice smile okay?

“You… work here?” Was the best Keith could make out. “Yeah, what gave it away? Was it my snazzy bow tie?” Lance answered as he chuckled, “There’s nothing wrong with napping on the job, I like to choose the longest movies and blend in with the crowd” He said as he saw Keith’s confused face.

“Lance! Are you gonna help me pick up this trash or am I gonna have to tell Nyma you were sleeping again?” A tall guy in a uniform similar to Lance’s interrupted them. “Geez Rolo, relax, you’re just jealous cause I’m hitting it up with the hot guy instead of you. I’m coming” The boy said as he stood up “By the way, name’s Lance” he added with a wink.

“My eyes, cannot believe this, my skin has cleared, my work has finished itself, global warming disappeared, did we just witness Keith Kogane flirting? Flirting?” Pidge jumped in from Keith’s back. “I wasn’t flirting!” He defended himself. “Can we please just go?” 

“Fine, but don’t pretend like you didn’t blush a little bit when that guy winked at you” Hunk teased him as he walked to the door.

 

・゜・。.

 

“So like, picture this I call up Matt and tell him _“Matt, I’m your sister, you can’t fool me, I know you ate my Rice Krispies”_ and you know what he answered? _“Katie, we ran out of Rice Krispies last week.”_ He even added a sigh at the end! But I’m not having it, I went to check the trash can and the box was on top of the pile! I’m thinking we should cook up a revenge plan, you with me?” Pidge said mischievously as she paced the break room from their office, fidgeting with the machine to make a fresh coffee pot. She turned around when she was met with silence “Keith? Keeeeiiiith! Are you listening to me?” 

“Huh? Yes of course, Rice Krispies, checking the trash can is a bit excessive don’t you think?” He said in an attempt to cover up his slip. Pidge narrowed her eyes behind her glasses. “You can’t fool me either Kogane, what’s up with you?” She closed in on him to make eye contact. 

“Did I forget your birthday? No. Was it Hunk? Did Shiro forget to pay the bills again? Hmm…” She made a thoughtful noise before erupting “It’s the boy from the movies! I _knew_ you had a thing for Latins!!” She announced triumphantly.

“What are you guys talking about?” Hunk said as he entered the room, walking straight to the microwave to heat up their lunch. “Is this about the Rice Krispies? Cause I am _not_ participating in any sort of revenge whatsoever.” 

“No! I just discovered…” Pidge began before being interrupted.

“Yes!! Please help us Hunk! We need to do something about this! It’s unfair for Pidge to miss out on her cereal every morning!” Keith blurted out before Pidge got the chance to tease him any longer.

“I just don’t get it Pidge, I cook for you guys every day, and you love my food, yet you guys still insist on having cereal for breakfast, I bet there’s a million other roommates out there that would love to have my culinary skills at their disposal” Hunk said turning to the youngest of the three.

“You know what’s up Hunk _“If we have your food for every meal it would stop being special”_ The roommates said in unison.  
“Yeah, yeah, at least Keith appreciates my food” The cook said as he slid the Tupperware in Keith’s direction “I made lemon chicken for today, eat up” 

Truth is, Keith didn’t want to accept it, but he _was_ thinking about the boy from the theatre when Pidge caught him. He didn’t have a crush, he just had the ability to appreciate beauty, or at least that’s what he told himself. He’d been sitting at his desk for hours, unable to do any work because of his little mishap with Pidge.

“Excuse me, is your name wifi? Cause I’m feeling a connection?” 

Keith looked up from his computer, that smile, those eyes, _“Lance”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is here! I hope you guys like it:)

“The one and only, theatre boy” Lance answered with a grin “What’s your name?”

He studied him for a moment before answering, he was wearing a button up shirt and a blue tie _“It matches his eyes”_ He thought in a very platonic way. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?” Keith answered.

“I am!” He answered back, “I guess you were right, napping on the job isn’t the best for your employee reputation” Keith’s phone buzzed and he looked down for a second. “I guess you’re busy, I’ll leave you to it…” Lance scanned his cubicle until a post-it caught his eyes “Keith?” 

“Keith” The boy said in confirmation. “Cool, see you around Keith” Lance said as he walked away. As soon as Lance turned on the hallway, Hunk slid over in his chair and whispered “Dude, was that the guy from the movies? The one you have a crush on?” 

“Hunk, I don’t like Lance” Keith answered in a hushed tone. “Oh, so you’re on a first name basis now? Are those wedding bells I hear?” He said while looking at the sky, receiving a groan from the other boy.

“Hey listen, there’s nothing wrong with having a crush, it’s natural man” That wasn’t it though, Keith had liked many boys in his time, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it, he couldn’t believe he was attracted to Lance though, he acted so smug and oddly confident, there was something about him that bothered him, but he was also sort of into him.

“It’s just… weird, he’s weird” Keith said after a second. “You like him though, Pidge is gonna love this” Hunk said as he started texting on his phone.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

“Guys! I came as soon as I heard! Keith, is it true that your crush is in the building?” Pidge asked the boys enthusiastically. 

“He’s not my crush, but yeah, Lance is here” Keith answered with a straight face. “Oh I know I was just testing you, he’s actually pretty cool you know? You’d make a nice couple” The girl answered.

“Wait, you already talked to him? Gosh, I wanted the exclusive!” Hunk said from his desk, Pidge shrugged and said “We’ve been following Coran around all day, intern, assistant, what’s the difference? You know, I got some useful info for you Kogane, he’s a cat person, his favorite color is blue, and he’s single” she announced that last one in a sing-song voice. 

“Pidge I didn’t need to know that” Keith answered without meeting her eyes. “Whatever, you can thank me later, you ready to go Hunk?” Pidge walked over to Hunk’s desk.

“Sure, let’s get out of here. We’ll see you tomorrow Keith” He said as he waved. “Don’t talk to Lance without us!!” The female intern yelled behind her as she walked.

“Why did Katie say you couldn’t talk to me?” Lance showed up from behind Keith’s cubicle wall. “Jesus! It’s nothing Lance! It’s nothing” The boy answered startled. “Well anyway, I just came to ask if you knew the way to the bathroom, cause I got lost in your eyes” 

Keith sighed and rolled his eyes at the boy “They’re literally three feet away from you” he answered and pointed to a sign that read _“Restrooms”_

“What can I tell you? I was distracted” Lance said as he walked the opposite way that Keith pointed at.

It wasn’t until the following Tuesday that Keith realized Lance was more than just a funny guy that knew a surprisingly big amount of pick up lines. 

Lance went inside the meeting room to pick up leftover reports as instructed by Coran. He found Keith inside, completely alone, sitting in a chair directly across the only window in the room.  
“Keith? You okay?” He asked, no playful undertone.

“Yeah” Was all he got in response. Lance’s brow furrowed as he debated himself on coming inside or leaving the boy alone, he’d been wanting to talk to Keith more, but he felt like he was intruding in some way.

“You coming in?” The boy asked without at him. Lance walked inside and closed the door, as he approached, he realized Keith had been drawing the skyline he could see from the window.

“Wow! You made that?” Lance asked, peeking at the drawing from Keith’s shoulder. The boy turned with an arched eyebrow, ready to make a sarcastic comment. Instead, he closed his eyes for a second and got back to drawing.

“Fine, sorry I interrupted Mr. Grumpy Pants” He said, raising his arms in defeat. He picked up the stack of papers at the end of the table and walked in front of Keith towards the exit. 

“Wait” Keith looked at him this time. “Can you stand there again?” He asked with a neutral expression, a pleading look on his eyes.

“Oh so now you want to talk?” Lance asked, his turn to raise an eyebrow.

“Please” Keith said, giving in.

“Just cause I think you’re cute” The boy said, clearing the tension off the air, Keith visibly relaxed in his chair as he instructed him where to stand. “So, you’re an artist? You don’t look the type” 

“You expected me to wear overalls and a striped shirt?” He asked as he sketched Lance’s silhouette into his drawing.

“No, I just never thought you’d be that good” Keith chuckled at the comment, sketching the uphill slope of Lance’s nose.

“I’m not an artist, I just like to draw” Lance frowned and turned his head towards him, raising his hand in confusion. “I’m no expert, but what you’re making is art, doesn’t that make you an artist?”

“Could you put your hand back in your pocket?” The boy obliged but continued. “I’ve never understood people that say that. Drawing makes you happy, you’re good at it, and other people enjoy it. Man- I’ve never realized how much I use my hands when I talk.” 

“Yeah, maybe too much” Keith teased. “I don’t know, I’m just not good enough to give myself the title.” 

“I don’t think art is about how good or bad you are, you’re making something that’s making people _feel_ things, how do you call someone who does that? There’s a huge percentage of people in the world that can’t do what you’re doing, I bet that drawing looks more like myself than I do.” Lance’s phone buzzed in his pocket. “I gotta go, but you need to stop doubting yourself man” He said, pointing at him on that last sentence. Walking out without saying goodbye.

Keith looked at the empty space he left, thinking about his words. He resumed drawing, as if he needed Lance to pose for him to know what he looked like.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

The following week was filled with crappy pickup lines and endless teasing from his friends. It all changed when Keith walked into the break room on Thursday for their usual fancy plate of the day (Sponsored by Hunk, obviously). 

He knew something was wrong as soon as he walked into the room, all the lights were turned off and the fresh smell of coffee was gone, it was usually Pidge’s job to make sure there was never a shortage of it. “Uh… guys? I thought we were gonna meet here at 12:30” he walked in and glanced at his watch “it’s already 12:50, are you in here?” As soon as he finished he heard the door close behind him and a soft *click* as the lights turned on.

“Yes Keith, we’re here” Exclaimed Pidge as she spun around in an office chair propelled by a hunched Hunk. “This is an intervention” Came from Hunk in the background as he stood up 

“It’s been enough, Lance started working here two weeks ago, we know you like him, and based on this piece of evidence, we’re pretty sure he likes you too” Hunk held up a blue sheet of paper with a shovel printed on it, next to it the text read “I dig you” and on an even smaller Comic Sans font “From: Lance To: Keith”.

Keith blushed and stuttered before answering “Where’d you get that?! Didn’t anyone tell you it’s rude to spy through other’s cubicles?!” Keith exclaimed scandalized. “You didn’t see the… um, the others, did you?” He asked carefully.

“OTHERS?!” His friends asked in unison. When Keith remained silent, Pidge continued.

“Anyway, old news Kogane. This is about you and the new boy, you _have_ to ask him out, this could be a life and death situation, I mean look me in the eye and tell me you’re not into Lance.” She was met with silence “That’s what I thought. Besides, there’s no fear for rejection, Lance is super into you man.” Pidge finished proudly.

“Now listen, we don’t mean to intrude in your personal business, but we actually do love you Keith, even if we don’t show it that much, and we know Lance could make you happy, so go for it.” Hunk added with a smile.

The three friends shared eye contact and nervous smiles until Keith sighed and said “Fine, I’ll talk to him, I can try to flirt back, would that be enough?”

“Yeeees!” The roommates exclaimed in unison “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

“Keith, Coran asked me to come get you, he has some important stuff he wants to talk to you about” Pidge appeared in Keith’s desk from behind. “Important stuff?” He asked skeptically.

“Sure, about those… reports you were talking about the other day? Remember Hunk?” She turned to the other boy with a suggestive face.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah! Those reports, he talked to me about them, you should really go Keith, they are super crucial” He said nodding his head. 

“Come on Keith! This is important, no time for talking!” Pidge said as he grabbed Keith’s hand and dragged him through the cubicles and into Coran’s office. 

They walked in, the chair behind the desk facing the windows. Coran liked to be dramatic, this wasn’t unusual, the shock came when the chair spun around and he heard the door close behind him _“What a surprise Pidge”_ He thought.

“Ah Keith, I’ve been expecting you, you see, I’ve been sending you… packages, messages? And I figured you would have returned them sometime by now, but I’m beginning to think maybe that’s won’t be the case, so here’s my official request to ask if you want me to stop before you report me for work harassment” Asked Lance sitting in Coran’s chair.

“I…” Keith stood with his back to the door, he tried to turn the doorknob, it was open. For a second, he considered escaping like they do in cartoons but decided against it after remembering his intervention “I’ve been meaning to return them…” he began “It’s just… Why don’t you check your bottom drawer tomorrow?” Keith said with a hint of a smirk.

Lance smiled wide and Keith tried to pretend like that didn’t make him feel like he’d been drugged; Dazed, confused, and most importantly, incredibly giddy.

“I’m glad we had this talk Mr. Kogane” Lance said smiling.

“Likewise” Keith said as he exited through the door.


	3. Chapter 3

_“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, Lance is kinda cute, and he’s funny, and well… I guess he does like me, and I wouldn’t be lying if I said I was into him too”_ Keith debated himself on his way home, he had his phone in his hands, google images shined on the screen “Valentine’s day cards meme” was written across the search bar.

 _“Maybe he doesn’t like me and that’s his thing, flirting with random people… But I asked Pidge and Hunk and they said he didn’t flirt with them, or with Coran”_ He fished his keys from his pocket and unlocked his apartment door. “Shiro! Are you home?” He yelled into the nothingness. “In the kitchen!” A voice yelled back.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually cooking? Shiro, cooking? It must be my lucky day” Keith answered sarcastically. 

“Ha-ha you’re so funny Keith, has anyone ever told you that? No, I’m not cooking, I got takeout from that place you like.” Shiro took out a bag from the fridge and emptied its contents, he poured the food into a pan and began heating it up. 

“You know? I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this thing that I found in the living room.” Shiro held up a pink piece of paper, similar to the one Hunk had found, this one read “You’re hotter than the Peruvian puff pepper;)” with a picture of Megan Parker from the T.V. show Drake and Josh. In a similar font, on the lower left corner it said “From: Lance To: Keith”.

“So, who’s Lance? And is he in kindergarten?” The older brother asked smirking. Keith groaned and replied “Ugh Shiro, he’s just a guy”

“Just a guy… I see, you’ve had many “guys” in the past, and none of them managed to make you blush like this before” Shiro said waving his spatula in Keith’s direction. 

“Shiro can we please just drop it? I’m not blushing” Keith lied as he snatched a silver spoon to look at his reflection, noticing his blush made him go redder.

“Sure sure, we can drop it Keithie, just remember that if you needed any sort of help, I would be happy to oblige” He added with a smile.

“I’m not gonna ask my brother for romantic advice, thanks, but no thanks” Keith spat out. “I’m just offering” Shiro placed his hands before him, admitting defeat, “If you ever need an opinion on which flowers to buy, or which engagement ring, I’m here” 

The younger of the pair hid his head in his arms while the other laughed wholeheartedly. “You know, I was actually about to ask you for your opinion on something but I guess it’s best if I keep it to myself” Keith teased his brother back.

“Come on now, who’s got the food? You gotta tell me if you want to eat”

 

・゜・。.・゜・。

 

“Okay hold on, let’s see that other one… What if he’s vegan?” Shiro commented. 

“He’s still gonna laugh! Just help me pick out one of these, I think it comes down to “You’re the hottest pocket” with the Hot Pocket, oooor “R u Katniss? Bc gurl you’re on fire” Keith said from his side of the couch.

After dinner, the brothers decided to sit down and choose a Valentine’s Day card that would make Lance swoon. Shiro was laying down on the couch while Keith sat with his legs crossed next to him.

“Hear me out though, what if he hasn’t seen Hunger Games? What if he hates them? I mean are you sure this is how you wanna present yourself? You’re the one that fell asleep during Catching Fire” Shiro commented while staring at the ceiling.

“That was one time! And you’ve placed me between vegan and hater! How am I supposed to know what to choose?” Keith asked his brother exasperated.

“Just pick the one you think goes with him most! It’s not rocket science!” Shiro exclaimed.

“Okay, fine! Katniss it is” Keith said as he got up from the couch and walked to his room, “If I fail, I’m blaming it on you!” He yelled before shutting the door behind him.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。

 

"YO, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I WANT WHAT I REALLY, REALLY WANT" Lance came bursting into his apartment using his keys as maracas. "SO, TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU REALLY, REALLY WANT" Allura came sliding in from the kitchen using a whisk as a microphone.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I WANT WHAT I REALLY REALLY WANT, I WANNA, I WANNA, I WANNA" Lance continued their duet. "I WANNA REALLY REALLY REALLY WANNA ZIGAZIG HA" They both sang in unison.

"What's up with you? We haven't sung Wannabe since you quit that awful cashier job" Allura asked while she returned to the kitchen. "Weell... You remember Keith?" Lance asked as he followed her inside.

"Oh, you mean "The-most-beautiful-boy-in-the-world.-Allura-I-woke-up-and-he-was-just-there-oh-my-god-he-had-stunning-eyes-I-didn't-even-know-you-could-have-purple-eyes!-Is-that-normal?-Is-he-secretly-a-mutant?-I-mea..." Allura said mocking Lance's words

"Okay! Okay! You could have just said you remembered him! Geez!" Lance interrupted. "Anyway, I think he likes me too" He said sheepishly.

"Wait, are you joking? Your cringe cards seriously worked?! What happened?!" She asked excitedly.

"Well, it didn't seem like he was affected by my advanced flirting techniques, so I told Pidge _"Girl, you gotta help me with that Keith Kogane, what's up with that boy?"_ And she was like _"Dude, I can't say anything but I can help if that's what you want"_ and I obviously agreed.”

“So Pidge brought Keith to me while I waited in Coran's office and I was like "You don't like me man?" And then he got all shy and adorable and he said "Why don't you check your desk tomorrow?" Lance finished looking proud. "So?" Allura asked skeptically.

"So? What do you mean "so"? He's gonna answer! We’re gonna get married!" He finished excitedly.

"He's definitely gonna answer… but what if he says no?" She asked carefully

"What... You... No! No Allura! You didn't see his face, he likes me. I think..." Lance said as he flopped down on a stool "I mean he said he wanted to return them, he wouldn't have said that if he didn't like me, right?" He said looking up to her

"Right... It seems logical, but you don't know him Lance, you don't _really_ know him, what if he likes to play with people's feelings?" She turned back from the stove to answer.

"I really don't think so, I mean I know that his favorite book is Catch-22, he's Korean, and he has an older brother" Lance informed Allura

"Woah there, you said you've only talked to him twice right? Do you only play 20 Questions or what?" Allura asked while she brought two plates from the counter and sat across Lance.

"Not really... Let's just say I’ve been at the right place in the right time" He said looking down at his plate "Lance McClain! You've been following him?! You stalker!" She said laughing.

"No! I mean maybe? I'm just quiet when he talks. It doesn't really count as "stalking" if he by any chance reveals some info while I listen" Lance shoved a huge bite of food in his mouth to avoid her pointed stare.

"My, my, my, we've finally found someone that can shut that mouth of yours" She teased her roommate. "Oh, shut up!!" Lance said in between bites.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。

 

The next morning, Lance rushed to check his bottom drawer, he stood in his cubicle trying to gather the courage to see its contents. He crouched to pull the storage area open when he heard a voice behind him.

"Ah, Mr. McClain, can I have a chat with you?" From Coran's office.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。

 

"So Keith, today's the day isn't it? The pinning is over!" Hunk yelled from his cubicle. "Come on! I heard he was gonna be at the staff meeting today, his cubicle should be empty"

Keith stood up without addressing Hunk and walked towards Lance's cubicle. Love wasn't really his thing, but Shiro said that the Katniss card would do it, so he had to try. He stopped in the hallway before he saw the cubicle to take a breath, it wasn't the end of the world, he would go in, open the drawer, and drop the card. Easy as pie.

He turned the corner with his eyes closed, but he definitely didn't see what he expected. Lance's cubicle was empty. There were no papers, no silly action figures, no family photos, even his chair was neatly tucked in, unlike any other time he’d seen it. 

He half-jogged to inspect the scene and noticed that the trash can was empty too. _"Is this a joke?"_ Keith thought _"Maybe he didn't even like me. Maybe he's hiding and he wants to see my reaction"_ He figured he would still leave the card, maybe Lance would come get it later, much to his surprise, the bottom drawer was locked.

"You lookin' for McClain?" 

Keith turned to find Shay standing behind him, the girl had lunch with them sometimes “He was fired this morning” He stood speechless before her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouh! A small cliffhanger there. But also not really cause i'm posting the next chapter right after this one.


	4. Chapter 4

“I… Thanks for letting me know Shay” He half-whispered as he walked back to his cubicle. He ran into Pidge on his way back “Keith! The man of the hour! What happened with Lance? Did you kiss already?” He never stopped walking but she followed him with incessant questions “Did you at least ask him out? I wanna hear the details! Don’t hold out on me!” 

“Listen Pidge, why don’t we wait until I reach my cubicle, I’ll tell you everything you wanna know” He sighed and ruffled his hair.

“Oh, angsty emo hair ruffling, this can’t be good, hey Hunk! Don’t be too hard on Keith, things didn’t go well” She said as they arrived at the boys’ desks.

“Oh man, I’m really sorry! What happened? He didn’t… He didn’t reject you, did he?” Hunk asked with a frown.

Keith plopped in his chair and rolled over to Hunk’s desk, Pidge sat on top of it and said “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want”

“He was fired today” He answered under his breath. “He was fired?” Pidge repeated his words. “Yeah” Keith deadpanned.

“I don’t understand why this interferes with your plan” Hunk asked the Korean. “I don’t know guys, what if this is a sign?” Pidge groaned loudly in the distance.

“Keith. Akira. Kogane. You’ve _got_ , to be kidding me…”

“Hear me out though! What are the odds of something like this happening? Just as I was about to do something, he’s gone? I think someone up there is looking out for me” Keith tried to defend himself before his friends ate him alive. Pidge sighed and jumped down from Hunk’s desk “Give me a minute man, Hunk don’t let him do anything stupid, I’ll be right back” She walked quickly towards an unmarked door before the boys could stop her. 

“I think I’m with Pidge, you really like him, right? Is this really gonna stop you from getting what you want?” Hunk added gently.

“Lance Charles McClain” Pidge jumped on the desk again and threw a file into Keith’s lap “You have no excuses Kogane, everything you need to know about him is in here, don’t go using the old _“I don’t even know his last name” “I don’t know where to find him”_ trick”

“I can’t just show up at his house Pidge!” Keith exclaimed as he eyed the file “What would I even say “Hi Lance, remember me? Yeah, I was supposed to leave this at your desk, so here. Oh, how did I find your place? I’m not a stalker, I swear, just my friends”

“You know what Keith? It’s clock out time, sleep on it, and don’t let anyone know that I gave you that file, let’s go Hunk” The intern said in a final tone.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

It’d been a week since Lance had been fired and his file haunted Keith every time he caught sight of it, but he didn’t even want to think about him right now, it was too complicated to figure out. 

Instead, he decided to procrastinate and visit the library on his way back home from work, he hadn’t read a good book in a while and that was exactly what he needed to get Lance out of his head.

He smelt the familiar scent of old paper and faded ink as soon as he walked through the door, Keith stood there for a second, taking in the old architecture and the piles of books stacked on the floor.

"Excuse me sir, can you help me get that book?" A kid asked him pointing to a high shelf containing Harry Potter books. "Uh... Sure" He answered as he walked with the kid towards the bookshelf. "Thank you sir!!" The kid said and ran towards a crowd of children. Keith followed the boy with his gaze until he heard a voice. 

_“"Frog put the cookies in a box. "There" he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies" "But we can open the box" said Toad. "That is true" said Frog."_

He recognized that voice, it was Lance, his Lance. Did he just call Lance _his_?

_"We must stop eating!" cried Toad as he ate another. "Yes" said Frog, reaching for a cookie. "We need will power"_

If Pidge was here she would slap him and say _"This is destiny, not that crap you use as an excuse, go get him"_ he peeked from behind the Harry Potter shelf and he finally saw him. He was wearing an army green jacket with a white baseball shirt underneath. A blue badge hung around his neck. It read "Need help?" surrounded by stickers from kids tv shows. There were around 10 to 15 kids around him, half of them listened intently, the other half only looking at the pictures.

He tried to give himself a pep talk and approach him, but he had too many questions _"Does he work here now? Why didn't_ he _find_ me? _Why didn't he tell me he was here? Why does he look like he would be an amazing dad?"_ He took a step forward, almost coming into Lance's view, but he stopped when he heard his words.

_“What is will power? asked Toad. "Will power is trying hard not to do something that you really want to do" said Frog."_

This was it, this was his queue. He walked forward to approach the crowd of children and crossed his arms while he leaned against a bookshelf, crossing his arms, trying to look cooler than he was.

 _"You mean like trying not to eat all these cookies?"_ Asked Toad. _"Right" said Frog."_ Lance turned the book and said "Look, here's Toad and this is Frog, they're eating the cookies. Can everyone see?" He scanned the room and locked eyes with the boy near the bookshelf and grinned. "All right kids, sorry, it looks like that's all the time we got today, go over with Slav and he'll teach you how to make your own felt cookies" Lance announced and pointed the kids to a cluster of tables on the right side of the room. 

"So, Mullet, have you been following me?" The librarian asked Keith as he approached him. "Me? Following you? I should ask you the same thing" He un-crossed his arms and raised his right eyebrow. 

"Do I have to remind you that you're the one who showed up at _my_ workplace?" Lance answered. "Do I have to remind _you_ that _you're_ the one who showed up at _my_ workplace?" Keith refuted. 

"Fine, fine, you win. What are you doing here? Did you just come here to attack me?" The Latin boy said in defeat. "I uh... Came here to read? Isn't that what people do at libraries?"

"Ouch, here I was thinking "Damn, Keith must be so into me, he tracked me down and actually dared to interrupt my kids' time, all because of his love for me” the librarian used a teasing tone and finished with a smirk. 

“Hey, McClain! In ninety-eight and three one hundredths of a percent of realities where you work in a library and you don’t arrange the books when you’re supposed to, you get fired!” Slav hollered from his tiny chair at the kids’ craft table.

“Well, Slav, we live in one of those two percent realities where I don’t get fired! I’m going!” The boy said as he pulled a library cart with multiple book stacks, ranging from encyclopedias to 5-page kid books.

“Come on mullet, help me out” The Latin said as he pushed the cart and motioned a “follow me” to the Korean.

The boys walked through the aisles in a somewhat awkward silence, the only sounds heard were the slight squeak coming from one of the cart’s wheels and Lance’s mumbling as he arranged books.

“So… Lance, what’s up with you and jobs? How come you keep getting fired?” Keith asked in a hushed voice. “Woah, woah, I don’t always get fired, sometimes _I_ leave if I don’t like them” The librarian answered with a slight tone of displease.

“Okay, let me rephrase, how come you keep switching jobs so quickly?” The one with the mullet asked.

“Well… it’s a long story. When I was a kid I used to help my mom run her flower shop. All my brothers and sisters had specific jobs like keeping the buckets clean, making sure what we ordered actually arrived, snooping on the competition, all that stuff, but I could never keep what my mom gave me for longer than a month, eventually I didn’t want to work there anymore, so she helped me get a job at the diner across the road, it didn’t last very long, obviously. That’s how it all began” He finished proudly.

“How do people still hire you though? Doesn’t that make you a terrible employer in their eyes?” Keith asked in a confused tone. 

“Not at all! I have gathered an immense amount of experience! I’m actually good at some of my jobs you know? When I’m not thinking about romantic notes to leave on your desk every waking hour of the day” Lance added as he walked to the “New sci-fi” section of the aisle. “Speaking of, did you come here to deliver yours?” He finished as he imitated the human version of the ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) face.

“I could give it to you…” Keith considered his options, his friends were right, it was now or never “Or I could just take you out for dinner tonight?” The shortest of them finished nonchalantly as he eyed the books opposite to Lance. 

Lance dropped the book he was holding and tried his best to hide the blush that spread across his cheekbones “You… You’re asking me out?” 

“You could call it that” Keith turned to the boy as he picked up the book he dropped and placed it in Lance’s hands. It was in this moment when Lance realized how close Keith stood in front of him, he could see the way his bangs landed softly in front of his eyes, the bright hue of his purple eyes and as he dropped his gaze lower, he focused his attention on his lips. He realized he hadn’t really seen them this close before, he especially liked the way his cupid’s bow arched just slightly under his nose, he could kiss him if he just leaned in a little closer, just a little clo…

“Lance?” Keith whispered “Is that a yes?” The boy asked as he took a step back.

“I… Yes, yeah. I mean no! I have to work tonight” The taller one answered attempting to hide his blush by pretending to sort the books on the bottom shelf of the cart.

“Fine, what about tomorrow night? I know somewhere we can go.” Keith insisted trying to keep his cool.

“Sure, I can do that, text me the address. It was nice running into you, I’ll see you later Keith!” Lance half yelled as he ran with his cart towards the opposite end of the library. 

“Okay… I guess?” Mumbled Keith to himself as he watched Lance dodge at least four clusters of unstacked books.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

“You’re not gonna believe what happened!!!” Lance screamed down the phone inside the library’s bathroom.

 _“You’re not gonna let me guess, are you?”_ Came Allura’s voice down the line.

“KEITH ASKED ME OUT! KEITH KOGANE CAME TO MY WORKPLACE LOOKING ALL BEAUTIFUL AND ASKED ME OUT” The boy said enthusiastically.

“WHAT?! Also, please be careful with my ears, you can’t replace these things you know?” She complained.

“Sorry, sorry. Anyway, I was just chilling at work you know? Reading to the kids and all that stuff and I look up and he’s there looking all cool leaning on a bookshelf! So I tell the kids _“Wait up, imma get my man”_ with PG words of course, so I go to him and we’re just talking about my inability to keep a job and he goes _“I could just take you out for dinner tonight”_ and all I could think was “HOLY SHIT, THIS BEAUTIFUL MAN ACTUALLY WANTS TO GO OUT WITH ME” and then he got super close to me and I kinda wanted to kiss him but then he stepped back and I accepted all awkwardly and I ran here to tell you” Lance finished taking a huge gulp of air.

“Would you look at that! I can’t believe your memes worked! He’s pretty lucky too you know? You’re like one of the prettiest guys I’ve ever met” Allura said in a stern tone.

“You’re just saying that cause everyone thinks we look alike” Lance mumbled.

“Fair point, but I’m not lying, don’t fret okay? I know how you get before first dates. When are you meeting him?” She answered back.

“Tomorrow, you’ll be at home to help me with my… everything, right?" He asked in a hopeful tone.

“Of course I will, what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t help you pick out the jeans that made your attributes look best?” Allura added.

“Thanks Allura, you rock” Lance said exiting the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. I'm really going all in with the memes, can you blame me though?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there's a bit of spanish in this chapter, the translation will be in the end notes:)

“Keith! You home?” Shiro said as he locked the apartment door behind him.

“He was kidnapped by Russian spies!” Pidge yelled back.

“He said we get to keep you though!” Hunk’s voice came echoing through the hall.

“Real funny guys, we all know that the Russians can’t handle me, the Hungarian spies definitely have the upper hand” Keith added as he walked to greet Shiro at the front door.

“Are Hungarian spies even a thing?” Shiro yelled loud enough for everybody to hear.

“Greatest spies in the world, the fact that you’ve never heard of them proves they are the best at their job” Pidge supplied from her spot at the couch.

“See? I told you he wouldn’t bring us takeout, pay up” Hunk turned to Pidge when the brothers joined them in the living room.

“Yeah, yeah” The girl abandoned her spot at the couch to place a dollar in Hunk’s open palm “This is what we get for trusting you Takashi” She announced before returning to her spot.

“Hey! No first name attacks! You’re one to talk _Katie_ ” Shiro added smugly as he sat down next to a curled-up Pidge and a sprawled-out Hunk.

“Fine! You win! But we still need to eat!” She supplied as she slapped his arm softly.

“It’s okay, I can just order a pizza, the usual right?” Keith asked before picking up his phone.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

The familiar buzz of their doorbell interrupted the group of friends.

“I’ll get it” Keith addressed the group as he picked up his wallet. They always ordered half pineapple and half pepperoni, so he started fishing out the money as soon as he opened the door. 

“I gotta say, I never pinned you for a pineapple pizza kind of guy”

Keith looked up from his wallet slowly, his eyes found the gaze of icy blue ones.

_“Lance”_

“In the flesh! That’ll be 7.99” Lance flashed a smile from under his blue cap. 

“Did I hear someone say Lance?” Shiro’s head popped from the hallway, followed by Hunk and Pidge’s.

“That’s _the_ Lance, Keith’s crush, we met him at the movies, and then we met him at the office.” Hunk supplied.

Shiro left his post to get a closer look at his brother’s crush. “Keith!” He said slapping Keith’s back “Aren’t you going to introduce us, I’ve just been informed that this is _the_ Lance you talk so much about!”

“That’s not…” Keith rushed to explain

“You talk about me? That’s so sweet mullet!” Lance cut off Keith before he finished.

“I don’t…”

“Oh yeah! You should listen to him _“Lance has the most beautiful eyes in the world, and his smile, it’s like, like…”_ Shiro attempted to imitate Keith’s voice. Lance laughed out loud at Keith’s evident blushing face.

“Okay! That’s enough, here’s your money Lance! I’ll see you tomorrow” The youngest said as he yanked the pizza from Lance’s hands and replaced it with money.

“Nice meeting you Lance! I’m Keith’s brother by the way!” Shiro sneaked in before his brother could close the door.

“So… you’ll see him tomorrow eh?” Pidge supplied, still peeking from the hallway with Hunk.

“God! You’re gonna kill me!” Keith groaned as he walked to the living room ignoring his friends while they laughed at his embarrassment.

"Wait Keith!" Pidge half-yelled while jogging behind him. "Are you going on a date?" Pidge asked suggestively.

“I swear to God. If you don't stop this right now, I won't give you all those juicy details that you looove when I get home from the date" Keith snapped back as he plopped down in the individual couch of the living room. 

"If you get back..." Shiro supplied smugly. 

"SHIRO, YOU BETTER..." Keith began before Hunk interrupted him. "I think that's enough guys, leave the poor guy alone, can't you see that he really likes Lance?" 

As soon as Hunk finished the last sentence Keith widened his eyes and blushed furiously "I..." "All right, all right, truce, sorry Keith" Pidge apologized before grabbing a pizza slice from the coffee table.

“Actually…” Keith began apologetically. 

“Actually?” Asked Pidge, an excited grin on her face.

“You don’t happen to have Lance’s phone number? Do you?” Asked the boy, avoiding eye contact.

“Oh God” Suplied Shiro in between bites. “You don’t have his number?”

“My, my, my. How the tables have tabled Mr. Kogane” Said the girl with a smug undertone. “I’m a merciful god, so I’ll give it to you. As long as we get details from the date”

“Fine.” 

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

"Right Lance, do you want to look like a hot hipster or a hot tailor?" Allura asked while raising two hangers with different outfits. "What if he has a thing for guys in uniforms? I mean he's always seen me in a uniform, should I wear this one from the cotton candy stand? He doesn't look like the type of guy to hang out at the fair in the middle of summer." Lance answered from the floor where all the rejected date outfits surrounded him.

"Didn't he ask you out at the library though? You were wearing your regular clothes there" Allura threw the two outfits on the bed and sat next to Lance. 

"I know you're second guessing yourself, but he does like you. You're a great guy okay Lance? You're nice and funny, and... Not ugly I guess" 

"Your definition for not ugly better be "Incredibly handsome" cause if not, I’m gonna have to take you shopping for glasses soon" Lance chuckled and answered "You're right Allura, I’m just sabotaging myself. I'll take the hot hipster please" 

"That's more like it! Go get him Leandro!" Allura yelled at him while he ran to the bathroom to get changed.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

“Are you going on a date?”

“Huh?” Lance sits by himself in the backseat of a cab, he keeps thinking about all the things that could go wrong in the date “What if he hates my jokes? No, that can’t be, he liked my puns. What if I make a terrible joke about something he likes and he hates…”

“I asked if you were going on a date, you look really unnerved” The cabbie asked Lance, he was an old man but behind his glasses, the boy could see that his intentions were sincere.

“Yeah, first date actually” Lance supplied quietly from his seat.

“Ah, I remember when I first went out with my Colleen, she was the sweetest girl I’ve met in my life. Not that it’s any of my business, but you shouldn’t be nervous, no matter how much you like them, if it works, it works. There’s no use in forcing things, you’ll feel it. When they laugh at your jokes, when they ask a precarious question.” The old man finished with a cough.

Lance couldn’t help but notice the man hadn’t assumed that he was dating a girl. “Well, we’re here, don’t be nervous boy, if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be.”

Lance thanked the driver and paid the fare, closing the door of the cab and walking into the diner.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

“He’s not here, is he going to stand me up?” Keith sat in a booth waiting for Lance, the waitress had already been to his table twice to ask about his order.

“He’s not gonna stand you up, he’s just a bit late, I mean he’s never been the most responsible guy in the world” Pidge supplied from the other end of the line. An intelligible voice came from her end of the line “Hunk agrees, you need to relax Keith, just breathe okay?”

“I could be relaxing but…” Keith stopped mid-sentence when he saw Lance get out of a cab and say something to the driver. “He’s-here-I’ll-call-you-later-bye”

“Mullet! Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?” Lance said as soon as he approached Keith’s table, he slid in the bench across him as opened his menu. “Sorry I’m late, my taxi ride got a little crazy, did you order something?”

“No, not really” Keith answered in a questioning tone.

“Great! Rosa we’ll have the usual!” He yelled towards the kitchen.

“Lance! ¡Hasta que se te ocurre aparecerte por acá! ¡Mira que grande estas! ¿Quien es este eh?” The waitress approached Lance and pinched his cheek.

“Ay Margarita! Él es Keith, dígame que no es el chico más guapo que ha visto. Keith this is Marge, Marge this is Keith” Lance introduced them when he noticed his date’s confused face.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Keith, Lance never brings anyone here, he’s afraid we’ll embarrass him, us! Can you believe that?” Marge addressed Keith and extended her hand to greet him.

“Lance? This Lance? I wouldn’t believe it Marge! He’s always such a nice boy, exactly the opposite of a troublemaker, right Lance?” Keith joked sarcastically with the waitress.

“Ah claro, that sounds like my Lance, so responsible all the time.” Marge said over Keith’s laughter

“I admit it okay? I’m an angel, can we stop this? ¿Por favor?” Lance asked her.

The waitress nodded and waved a small sign of goodbye in Keith’s direction. “Let me guess, you used to work here” Keith spoke before Lance had a chance to explain.

“Yeah, this was my second job” Lance used his thumb to point across the road where a small flower shop with the name of “Varadero Flowers” stood.

Keith gaped at the window shop trying to make out a figure on the other end.

“Bit too soon to meet the parents don’t you think? They’re closed, thankfully” Lance supplied.

“Here are your hamburgers boys, ah Keith, has Lance ever told you the story about the first day he worked here? I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times, but he was just so cute and he spilled absolutely every drink we put in his hands…” 

Lance thought about Sam the cabbie while he watched Keith and Marge speak, he was so indulged in her story, and she seemed to assume that they’ve been dating for a long time, he considered the whole “if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be” speech before realizing that Keith fit easily into his life. 

“Did you really drop 10 drinks on your first day here?” Keith pulled Lance out of his trance, he noticed that Marge wasn’t standing at their table anymore.

“It wasn’t like that! They wanted me to wear skates while I delivered orders, so I figured it would be easier to place the glasses in the middle of the plates to have more control, right? Lance asked as he demonstrated it with his own drink.

“Right?”

“Wrong, as it turns out, tall glasses can fall pretty easily if you don’t hold them properly# Keith giggled with amusement before adding “But ten drinks!”

“I wasn’t going to give up after the first failure! I’ve always been very stubborn, you would know” Lance finished his statement with a wink.

Keith tried his hardest to hide the blush that spread over his cheeks by changing the subject “So, is this what you’ve always wanted to do with your life? Have a billion jobs?” He asked before reaching for a fry from his plate.

“Woah Mullet, way to throw me under the bus” Lance faked indignance. “I don’t know, my mom says that I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, but you know, astronaut school clearly didn’t work for me”

“Really? I got kicked out of astronaut school” Keith said casually as Lance finished his story.

“Wait, seriously?”

“No Lance! Is that even a thing? I did get kicked out of college though” Keith added with proud undertones.

“Did you really? Are you secretly a criminal? Did you blow something up? You’ve gotta tell me the story, include as many details as possible, make me feel like I was there, go!” The latin boy rambled excitedly.

“Oh, I don’t know, I feel like that’s a story for another day” Keith teased Lance with a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Lance! Took you long enough to show up around here! Look how much you've grown! Who's this huh?
> 
> \- This is Keith, tell me he's not the most handsome guy you've ever seen.
> 
> \- Ah of course, that sounds like my Lance
> 
> \- I'm an angel, can we stop this? Please?


	6. Chapter 6

“Come on! You can’t do this! Keith? Buddy? My man?”

Lance followed Keith down the humid sidewalk as they exited the diner, he refused to disclose the story of his expulsion unless the other would guess the reason why.

“I told you Lance, I won’t tell you unless you guess it” Keith had offered to walk Lance home, just to give him more time to guess. (At least that’s what he told himself)

“I hate guessing games! It’s raining and I hate walking and now I’m all wet. Just tell me, pleaaaaase?” Lance got in the boy’s way to stop him from going any further. “I mean…” Before he could try anything else the sky made a roaring boom as rain poured down harder on them.

Keith looked up at the grey clouds before them and grabbed Lance’s hand “Follow me” He turned to him before sprinting ahead. Lance’s hand almost slipped out of Keith’s hand when he began running, almost. He was too shocked to move for a second, he took Keith in as he ran under the echoing rain. What the hell had happened with the shy boy he had met at the theater? He seemed so much more confident now. He could hear Keith laughing under the rain, seeing him run ahead with his bright red leather jacket and his long raven hair made Lance feel like it wouldn’t matter if the galaxies lost their color as long as he was with Keith. 

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

Keith was scared shitless. He was holding Lance’s hand and he was trying his best to not freak out, he didn’t know if he was laughing because he was nervous or because this was too perfect. He just did what felt right, he followed his instincts as always. But he didn’t even know if Lance was willing to go with him to his apartment, or if Shiro was home, what if Pidge was there waiting for him? He glanced back to look at Lance and noticed his shocked expression, he offered him a sincere smile, which the other boy returned along with a squeeze on the hand he was holding. The moment Keith’s violet eyes made contact with Lance’s blue ones is when he realized that it wouldn’t matter if all the constellations broke apart as long as he had him.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

The boys entered a brightly lit lobby where a short man greeted Keith by the door “Hi Keith! Pretty rough out there isn’t it?” 

“It sure is Platt” The Korean greeted the man back. Lance couldn’t help but notice that even though they had stopped running, Keith hadn’t let go of his hand.

“I gotta say Keith, I’m not one of those sleazy boys, you’re gonna have to do so much more than buy me dinner to get into _these_ pants” Lance exclaimed sassily with an eyebrow raise.

“Oh shut up, I wasn’t gonna leave you out there in the rain, come on” The boy added as he dragged him to the elevator.

“So, I think I got it, you were studying law, and you got into a heated fight over marriage equality” Lance tried again before he heard his date chuckle at his statement.

“That’s a really good guess, but no. I wasn’t in law” Keith denied as he pressed the button in the elevator to go to their floor.

“Okay let me think… You were studying… Astrophysics! And they kicked you out because you tried to steal a telescope” 

“Yeah, you got me, I’m the telescope thief, it’s all over the news” The other exclaimed sarcastically. “I _was_ studying astrophysics though, top of my class” Keith answered over the ding from the elevator signaling their arrival.

“Wait? Top of your class? It must have been something pretty serious then… You stole Plutonium from the labs? No, no, you screwed up their simulation system” He dragged the last sentence in a sing-song voice.

“Not really… You do know that students spend most of their day studying in their dorms, right? It’s not like they told me how to get into Area 51 or anything” 

The boys entered the apartment hand in hand, Keith flickered on the light switch as he peeked through the hallway to make sure nobody was home. 

“Come on, I’ll get you some dry clothes” He guided Lance into the living room and went into his room. Lance stood where Keith left him and took in the room, there was a wide window on the wall to his left and a couch to his right. He noticed the framed pictures that were scattered around the room. The biggest one showed Keith alongside Shiro, both were in graduation gowns, the youngest had a dark blue one while his brother wore a black one. Below that picture both of their diplomas hung on the wall. The first one read “Takashi Shirogane | Master in Astrophysics” “Keith Akira Kogane | Valedictorian” Keith’s diploma had been altered, a yellow post-it replaced his actual degree, Lance tried to lift the paper to peek just as Keith returned.

"Here you go... I can uh... Come back when you're ready" Keith held a red hoodie in his hands and gave it to Lance, he turned back and walked into the kitchen, taking his phone out and texting Shiro "Where are you?" He immediately texted back "At the Holt's with Hunk. Are you home? With Lance? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) " 

"Keith! Where should I put my wet clothes?" Lance's voice came from the living room. "I can put them in the dryer, come on" Keith went back into the living room and signaled the other to follow him into a small room. 

"I like your place, it looks a lot better from the inside, you know, when you're not slamming your door closed on me" Lance finished as he took in the small room where the brothers kept their laundry appliances, he noticed some folded blankets on top of a hamper and wrapped himself in a blue one. Before Keith could get up from his hunched position at the dryer, he threw a red one on top of him, the other turned to look at him with a confused expression, Lance shrugged and replied, "You looked cold"

"I'm not the one who's shivering under my blanket" Keith shot back at him. "I can make you hot chocolate" he finished shyly as he adjusted the blanket on his shoulders. 

The boy began walking to the kitchen even before Lance answered. Keith crouched in front of the kitchen cabinets to fish out two mugs and a bag of marshmallows then handed the latter to his date. "So..." The Latin boy stated in between marshmallow bites "You and your friends seem very close, where did you meet them?" 

"It's kind of a funny story, the three of us met on one of the tours colleges do before classes start" He explained as he poured hot milk in both mugs. "Wait, I thought Pidge was younger than you guys" Lance interrupted. 

"Yeah, she is. She was just too excited to go to college, she'd been taking the same tour every year since she was 12" Keith said in between chuckles "Anyway, Hunk and I were really intimidated by her, she looked so tiny and she was incredibly smart. It wasn't until I met back with Shiro that we realized she was his roommate's little sister" 

"After college, we just kinda stuck together" He gestured the other to follow him back into the living room. Keith walked in with both cups in his hands, he motioned Lance to sit down on the couch next to him. The blue-eyed boy snuggled in his blanket as he looked around the living room, the only source of light was the window behind him. Keith cleared his throat as Lance asked "So, you and Shiro seem pretty close, I haven't talked to my older brother in years" 

"Yeah... We... I went through some tough times when I was a kid, he really helped me out. He's the best big brother I could have ever asked for" Keith finished lamely, a bit afraid he overshared. 

"I think it's really cool that you live together, my brother and I weren't really close when I was a kid, my mom and dad said that he pretended I didn't exist for like, the first year of my existence." Lance chuckled as Keith laughed nervously behind his cup. 

"Well, I don't remember a lot from my baby years, they were a bit lonely. I did have a dog though, his name was Red, you could say he practically taught me how to walk. I wanted to name him Clifford, but my mom didn’t like it, so we had to pick another name" Keith finished and blushed after he realized he had rambled more than he meant to. He could just go on and on when talking to Lance, the way his blue eyes lit up when Keith laughed or made a joke made him feel like butter on a hot piece of toast.

"Wait, so you weren't close with Shiro as a kid either? I thought you were like those siblings that are inseparable since the moment the other gets to leave the hospital as a baby" Lance asked before giving his cup a little sip. Keith shifted uncomfortably under the blanket he was wrapped in, the window in front of his face illuminated his soft features, a slight frown masked within them. "I..." The sound echoed in the dim room. 

The black-haired boy adjusted his position before leaving his cup in the coffee table and cocooning himself inside his red blanket. "I might regret this later" He sighed heavily and hung his head, looking pointedly at his lap. "What do you..." Lance began before Keith interrupted him.

"I was very young when I was brought into the Shirogane house" Keith looked up and met with vibrant blues, he quickly averted his gaze downwards. "I was... eight. My parents said that my parents, the Koganes, died in a car crash. I wasn't in the car but, they didn't make it out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting serious oh boy


	7. Chapter 7

"Keith... I'm so sorry" Lance whispered cautiously and pulled his hand from under his blanket to hold Keith's, the boy looked up again and met with a sad smile. "It's okay, it's been a while. I never went "into the system", my parents had chosen the Shirogane's to be my legal guardians when I was born, they were Shiro's as well." Keith seemed to lose a fraction of his nerves, and only now realized that Lance was holding his hand, and had been for a considerable amount of time. He blushed and stuttered a bit before continuing.

"They let me keep Red, and I was Keith Shirogane for some time. They asked me if I wanted to change it back on my 18th birthday and they insisted there wouldn't be any hard feelings, so I agreed" He pointed at the diplomas in the wall "Takashi Shirogane" "Keith Akira Kogane" 

"Do you miss them?" Lance's voice reverbed in the room, he was still looking at the diplomas on the wall. When he looked back at Keith, he thought he saw a glint of a tear roll down his nose, he wasn't convinced until he heard a small sniffle coming from the Korean boy. "Oh Keith, I didn't..." Lance unwrapped the blanket from around his shoulders and scooted over to Keith, he wrapped them both and hugged the boy against his chest.

"I don't remember much, they were really nice, my dad Sang, looked just like I do now, handsome though. My mom and I used to bake all the time, and he loved to taste what we made when he got home from work "Joan, this is the best pie I’ve eaten in my life!" Every week he would say that, no matter what we made, it somehow seemed to top the last one." Keith finished in a small voice from his spot in Lance's arms.

The younger boy made a thoughtful noise while he rubbed Keith's back up and down. They sat there in a comfortable silence, Lance still cradling Keith in his arms, he spoke after a couple of minutes "I'm glad they chose the Shirogane's… I’m sure they're very proud of you" He looked at Keith who had readjusted and was now sitting directly next to Lance, his head tucked in the space between his collarbone and face.

"My mom always says that life's what you make of it, and even if you feel sad sometimes, it's your choice to decide how you want to live it. I think you chose pretty well" Lance half-whispered in a comforting voice.

"Isn’t that... from Hannah Montana?" The shortest one asked as he chuckled, "Yeah, how'd you know?" The Latin boy asked confused.

The boys erupted in laughter, Keith could feel Lance's chest vibrate as he laughed. "I think they would have liked you, my parents, all of them, my mom says that cute boys with kind eyes can be very dangerous" 

The atmosphere changed as soon as Keith finished his sentence, he looked up from his spot to admire Lance's vibrant eyes, he focused on his entire face next, the small wisps of a fringe against his tan skin, his high cheekbones and the constellation of freckles that stood there, he froze when he got to the lips, he wanted to kiss him. He wanted to kiss Lance McClain, and by the looks of it, Lance wanted to kiss him too. 

Keith's gaze flickered from Lance's eyes to his lips, asking for silent permission. Lance took advantage of this and closed the gap between them, kissing Keith's lips softly. When he pulled back, he couldn't help but smile after seeing the smirk on Keith's face "Who turned the temperature hotter, cause I’m burning up, burning up, for you baby" 

"What?" Lance asked confused. Keith shrugged and answered "That's the only Hannah Montana lyric I know.

"That's the Jonas Brothers, " Lance laughed and wiped Keith's tears with his thumb. "I'm sorry I cried" Keith apologized while shaking his head and wiping the remaining tears from his neck

"Hey hey hey" Lance grabbed both of Keith's hands and looked him in the eye "There's nothing wrong with crying, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever" Keith chuckled as he got up from his seat. "It looks like the rain stopped, would you like me to walk you home?”

“What is this? The twentieth century? “A girl like me can’t go out at this time of night?” Lance asked using a high pitched-voice.

“I’m just trying to be nice man” Keith apologized, drinking his remaining hot chocolate in a gulp.

“Don’t worry, I can take a cab, it’s really not that far” Lance said, even though he didn’t move to leave. 

Keith smiled at him, multiple thoughts going through his head. He chose not to share them though, instead, he leaned in and pecked Lance’s lips again. The boy chuckled softly.

“I had fun, this has definitely been the most interesting date I’ve ever been on” Keith laughed in response.  
“Listen, I’m sorry if that was a bit weird, I’m just comfortable around you” He answered trying to excuse his oversharing.

“Oh, I know, I tend to have that effect on people” Lance winked as he stood up, draping the blanket from his shoulders on the back of the couch.

“Let me at least walk you downstairs” The boys exited the apartment, walking back to the elevator they rode a couple of hours ago.

“So, what’s with your diploma?” 

“You know, you can’t complain I overshare if you ask so many questions” Keith teased as the doors closed in front of them. “I had to switch colleges to a career I didn’t love as much as the first one, so I had to work extra hard to be good. I told Shiro about it and he told me that I could use “my other title”” The boy chuckled. “I know it’s kinda dumb, but it cheered me up at the time so” He finished with a shrug.

The elevator dinged, letting them out into the world. They walked out hand in hand, neither of them knowing who was the one to initiate it. They walked outside, and stood on the sidewalk together, watching the cars go by in the busy street.

“So…” Lance began sheepishly.

“So…?” Asked Keith as a cab parked near them.

“I’ll call you” The boy answered confidently, giving Keith a quick peck on the cheek before entering the cab.

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

“Well???” Came Pidge’s voice from the other side of the phone.

“Keith?” Hunk’s voice replaced hers, expectant.

“He’s… great” 

“Great? Just great?” The girl asked.

“I don’t even have words to describe him. We talked about his jobs and his family and then about me and college and my parents” 

“Your parents? All of them?” His brother asked with a serious tone.

“Yeah, all of them. Also, did you seriously have to put me on speaker Pidge?” 

“We all wanted to know how it went dude!” Matt’s answered.

“It went well, it went amazing! He’s amazing! He’s so funny and he smells so nice and I made him hot chocolate” 

The friends all shared a glance, weirded out by listening to Keith so moved. But also hopeful that Lance would complement him like he needed. Keith didn’t need someone to make life worth living, he needed someone that would understand him and love him like he deserved. He didn’t need a fairy tale, he just needed love.

"Guys?"

"We're happy for you" Shiro was the last to speak, a sincere tone in his voice, Keith understood what he felt when he said those words.

"Thanks"

 

・゜・。.・゜・。.

 

"Allura! Pack my bags, i'm getting married" Lance entered the apartment speaking excitedly, joining Allura in the couch as soon as he spotted her.

"Oh, for the third time?"

"Noo, this is really it! I can't wait for you to meet him, he's an artist, and he's so beautiful Allura oh-my-god!" The boy rambled excitedly.

"I take it the date went well" She said equally as excited.

"It went marvelously! Just as you people with fancy vocabulary would say" He said mocking her accent.

"Did you kiss him? Did he kiss you?" She didn't get an answer, instead, the boy smirked slightly. "Lance McClain! You kissed him?!" 

"No! I mean, yeah! but it's more like we kissed, it was just a little peck, nothing too intense" He said smiling.

"Nothing too intense... You must really like this guy"

"I do. I really do"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we go! I might write another chapter to this after I watch season 8, i'm 90% sure, but that's it for now, I hope you enjoyed!:)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you sosososo much for reading! I started writing this fic a long time ago, before we saw Matt in canon, and I really wanted to post it before Voltron ended. Please let me know if you liked it, hated it, anything you wanna say.  
> You can also find me at @olkairon on twitter.


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